Living Dangerously
by hibiren
Summary: There is too much stress at work and Joseph and Sebastian find themselves dealing with it in ways they haven't before. [repost from my ao3 account]


It was just one of those days at the office. Stress from the minute they stepped foot through the door, paperwork and cases they thought they might drown in if they didn't keep track of it… Their office was mostly quiet save for the occasional string of swears on Sebastian's end and a few quieter swears from Joseph.

They'd been going in circles the entire morning. None of their evidence made any coherent sense because this was something new, a string of murders that were connected only by the series of marks left on the victims before they died. It made no sense. They'd never seen anything like it before, it was just a frenzy of killings. Unrelated victims, no common features, locations, or anything. No suspects yet, all they could do is analyze what they have and hope for the best, and just try to prevent anyone else from dying on what little information they do have.

"Goddammit, this bastard, I'm gonna wring his neck myself when we find out where the fuck he's hiding..." Sebastian muttered, banging his fist on the desk. Joseph turned to look at him, sharing his emotions for once.

"I hear you, but we have to find him first."

"Fuck!" Sebastian ran a hand through his hair and leaned back in his chair with an irritated groan. "I just want to get this done… why did we have to get all the complicated shit?"

"Well…" Joseph sighed. "We can think of this as a challenge. If we catch this guy, it's good experience. Also we'll get a murderer the punishment he deserves. That's…" Joseph glanced back at his notebook. "That's four people he's killed now. Four too many."

"I know that." Sebastian sighed again. "I just… feel so shitty. We've been at this for a week now and I feel like he's messing with us. I hate it."

Joseph shrugged and rolled his chair over to Sebastian's desk for the umpteenth time that day. "So, what do you have so far? Let's see what we've got to work with here. One more time, maybe, if we look at it together we'll see something new."

"Right…"

They glanced over all their evidence, what little there was, and all of their victims, charting out on a copy map of Krimson of where exactly their victims died, and how they died. There had to be a connection, somewhere. Something important, or even obvious, they were missing. About ten minutes later they found themselves going in circles again.

"Fuck! I can't take this anymore. I need a break." Sebastian reached for the pocket of his jacket where he kept his cigarettes, which Joseph knew well by now, and put a hand on his to stop him.

"Seb, you know you're not allo—"

"I was gonna fucking smoke outside. I need this, Jo, you know that."

"I don't care," Joseph said in a low, harsh tone as he tightened his grip on Sebastian's hand. "I've told you way too many times, tried to convince you, anything… smoking is horrible for you, and you know that. Or at least you should."

"Get off and leave me alone," Sebastian growled, trying to pull his hand away to no avail.

"Make me," Joseph replied bitterly, watching Sebastian with a narrowed gaze as he pushed his partner's hand away from his pocket.

"That's a dangerous game you're playing, Joseph." With his other hand, Sebastian yanked at Joseph's shirt and pulled him close enough to glare at him. "And there's consequences for losing."

"Try me. I'm not as stubborn as you but I can certainly hold my own." Joseph tried to stand to prove his point but Sebastian stopped him with another yank to his clothes. He winced but said nothing else.

"Mm-hmm," Sebastian said quietly, tugging him closer. "That's what I thought."

"I'm serious, Seb, I don't know how else to get you to listen to me. Doing things the hard way seems like the only way now." Joseph sat down on Sebastian's lap and crossed his arms, still trying to keep his ground. "I'm not getting up until you change your mind. If you're going to be childish about this I might as well give you a taste of your own medicine."

"I think I'm acting like an adult, don't you, Jo?" Sebastian sat back in his chair, fist now closed around his partner's tie, a smug smirk painted across his face.

"That's not what I meant," Joseph said hesitantly, doing his best to fight against Sebastian and not show how worked up he was getting. This wasn't exactly the best position for him to be in right now…

"Of course it's not. Your face is just red because you're sick. Is that it?" Sebastian leaned up just enough to let his breath ghost against Joseph's neck as he spoke.

"N-no, what are you talking about? I'm not sick! You're… you're just taking things way too out of proportion here…" Was he really blushing that much? Was it really that visible? He hadn't noticed because he'd been so distracted by the way their bodies were pressed close together in the chair. It wasn't the best thing for him right now, but at least Sebastian was successfully preoccupied with matters other than smoking. Which was better than nothing, so Joseph didn't mind too much.

"Right," Sebastian said, chuckling as Joseph shivered, "This, is taking things out of proportion." A moment later his mouth was at Joseph's neck, biting down gently, just enough to get a reaction. And there was definitely a reaction. Joseph's eyes clenched shut and he gripped Sebastian's hand tighter than he had been before, a sudden and unexpected pained noise slipping past his own lips.

"Ah… what… what is wrong with you?" Joseph breathed, writhing against Sebastian, "You're… you're out of your mind…"

"Am I? You don't sound very convincing."

"Shut up—h-hey!" Joseph hissed when Sebastian bit him again, letting his teeth linger a little longer this time. It was true, he was definitely enjoying it, but he didn't want to let Sebastian see it too clearly. They had been fighting and this wasn't exactly the best way to resolve it… it left Joseph more distracted than he had been when the day started. Deep in the back of his mind, he knew he'd started having feelings for his partner, but he couldn't say anything. Any time he tried it came out awkwardly, or a bunch of mumbles. He was never good at those 'romantic' kinds of things. So he just let it slip into the corner of his head so he could focus on other important things, like their job. They'd worked together for several years now, Joseph by Sebastian's side through the worst of his days, when his wife left after the accident... But every time he thought about asking Sebastian how he felt about dating… there was always a hint of regret. Sebastian had been married. Had a family outside of their partnership. He didn't want to deprive Sebastian of the little memories he had left of them, by being selfish and trying to start something he feared would probably not last.

"Problem?"

"Your teeth… you're biting me! It hurts."

"No shit, Jo, and you're enjoying it," Sebastian muttered, smirking again before deliberately biting him a little harder, causing a small yelp from Joseph.

"I-I…"

"Hm?" Sebastian hummed against Joseph's neck, tonguing lightly at the freshly-formed bruises.

"Why…? Why are you doing this? I-I thought… you were…"

Sebastian picked up on what Joseph was talking about without a second thought. "I already know they're not coming back. You're all I've got now, and… it just took me a while to realize it. Guess I'm trying to say I'm… falling in love with you… Even if I'm not great at explaining myself." There was a hint of sorrow in his eyes, but it was soon abandoned in his newfound attention for his partner's now-bruised skin. The bites were gentler now, more affectionate. A little less angry.

In response, Joseph leaned against Sebastian and exhaled quietly. "You know, I've come to realize the same thing. Since I came here, joined the department and everything, you were one of the few people I found myself able to really trust outside of work. It took me a while but… after everything that happened, I couldn't bring myself to want to leave you alone. It's why I nag so much. It's really mostly because I worry about you. I try not to make it so obvious…"

"You're a terrible liar, then." Sebastian chuckled. "You know… I didn't think I could love again, but… with you, it's different. What I had before, it was just… a life thing. But with you, it's a lot more than that. Emotional? More of a connection. We've worked together for so long and seen each other's worst, more than anything I had had with Myra. It's strange," he added sadly.

"We just… can't do anything, if we want to stay partners… we have to—have to focus on work. We have people depending on us, to solve cases… we can't just go around making out during office hours. It's not professional."

"There it is again. You keep saying 'professional' like it's such a thing to be modeled. There's ways to solve cases that don't quite answer well to authority, but if it gets the job done at the end of the day, isn't all that matters?"

"No, not really," Joseph murmured. He really could feel himself getting worked up now, and he wanted to not think about it too much, even if his mind wasn't allowing it. His entire body felt like it was giving away what he was trying to hide, bringing new heat to his cheeks. He glanced away from Sebastian, who leaned up to kiss his partner's jawline in response.

"So… while we're here like this…" Sebastian trailed off, his hand finally letting go of Joseph's tie to rest around his waist and pull him closer. "Did you… y'know, want to keep going?"

Joseph smiled guiltily, wrapping his own arms around Sebastian. "I… well… we have work to do, but… I'm way too distracted to try to think about that right now…"

"I see," Sebastian replied with a smirk. "Let's fix that then, shall we?"

"Wait," Joseph said after a moment, gesturing to Sebastian's neck, still very red-faced as he spoke. "Can I?"

"Be my guest, Jo, I don't mind." In response, Sebastian tilted his head up so Joseph had room. "I kind of owe you that much, after… well… you've got a few good ones on your neck now."

Joseph leaned down to kiss Sebastian's lips and lingered for a second before pulling away in surprise. "Wait, what?"

"Hickeys. I, uh, may or may not have left a few."

"Sebastian! What if—what if people see? We're done for!" Joseph hissed.

"Shh! If you yell like that we really will be. Are you going to kiss me, or not?"

"Just give me a moment. This isn't awkward to you at all?"

"Not at all. It's fun, actually. I didn't do this kind of 'dangerous living' before, even when I was married. Myra wasn't exactly fond of it…" Sebastian shrugged. It was something new for him as he'd said, but it was definitely an interesting experience.

"Hm. Okay then," Joseph said uncertainly before leaning down to kiss Sebastian's lips again, this time more fervently, and a little less afraid. Their tongues tangled together before Joseph pulled away, trailing a few experimental kisses down Sebastian's neck, biting quick and sharp, lingering just long enough to leave a string of red marks. It was almost exciting, the way Sebastian squirmed each time Joseph's tongue made contact with the sensitive skin there.

"God, Jo, you're really good at that," Sebastian muttered as he pulled Joseph even closer. Joseph shifted into a more comfortable position in the chair and hummed happily, reaching up to run his hands through Sebastian's slightly tousled hair.

"Glad to help, I guess," Joseph said between kisses, the blush returning to his face again at the thought that Sebastian was enjoying himself. He'd never really been one for things like this but Sebastian certainly enjoyed it, so Joseph was more than happy to oblige, now that he felt freer to do so.

The paperwork and cases were long since forgotten as they sat there tangled together, enjoying each other's company in a new sense. Hands explored, gentle touches, small movements and soft noises, they had to keep things quiet or the game really would be over. The two just felt that what happened needed to happen, as a stress reliever, and as a confirmation of things that had been unsaid and avoided for the most part over the years.

"I love you," Sebastian said suddenly.

Joseph smiled, sitting up a bit so he could look into Sebastian's eyes. "I love you too…"

Sebastian's gaze trailed down to Joseph's neck, and Joseph felt his eyes do the same for Sebastian's. Joseph frowned.

"What?"

"Look." Joseph pointed to the mirror that hung off their door and glanced away ruefully. "I, um… oops."

"Shit, Joseph, I… damn." Sebastian poked lightly at the fresh bruises across his neck and flinched.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, now you have to… ah, I'm sorry…"

"Jo. It's okay. I don't mind. It's what I wanted." Sebastian gave Joseph a comforting smile and a gentle hug. "Don't go kicking yourself over it."

"But your neck! People are going to see—and what about my neck, you said…"

"It's scarf season, isn't it? People aren't going to ask." Sebastian shrugged. "It's not that hard to hide them. At least yours you can cover with bandaids. Me, though… I'm gonna need a scarf."

"You're welcome?" Joseph said questioningly, and Sebastian chuckled.

"Ah, it's a shame I have to hide them. I have to keep secrets now, Jo." Sebastian said. "That'll be fun. Don't you think?"

"Well… I guess… if you can call that 'fun.' We, um, don't we have work to do?"

Sebastian glanced at the clock. "Not now, it's almost time to leave. How about we go get something to eat? I know a good place."

Joseph nodded, smiling, as he shifted and stood, holding out a hand to help Sebastian up. "Sure. I wouldn't mind… it'll be fun."


End file.
